Tim und der Haifischsee

'Tintin et le rac aux requins' is not based on one of the books of Herge. Greg (also a maker of comics) wrote the story for this film. He didn't do a really bad job, but there are no surprises or (very) funny scenes in the scenario. It is a simple film about Tintin going on adventure with his dog Bobbie and Haddock, the captain. On the way to the prof. (called Tournesol in the original French version) they meet the two stupid detectives (called Dupont et Dupond in the original French version). The prof. has invented something and Tintin and Haddock (this is their real French name) have to protect it from Rastapopoulos, a bad villain who is never scary or something that would make him a real villain.

There are no surprises, jokes or something else this film could and should be remembered for. And the worst of all: Greg came up with two annoying kids who are trying to help Tintin in his 'quest' to beat Rastapopoulos.

If you really want to enjoy yourself: read the books of Tintin made by Herge, because they ARE funny, full of surprises and they DO have things one could and should remember!!!

This new Tintin's adventure (which isn't an adaptation of one of Hergé's albums) is quite successful although it brings nothing to Tintin's glory. It restores the atmosphere and the subjects that made the Tintin's success. We find a spy (here, it happens to be Mms Vlek), a highly-coveted Calculus' invention by Rastapopoulos' crew and a murder attempt.

Of course, , the action, the humor (that mostly comes from the eccentric Thompsons detectives) and the justice's victory are always on appointment. Let's add a correct animation, some beautiful sceneries, always entertaining characters (Tintin, the captain Haddock, professor Calculus, the Thompsons detectives) and we get a honourable success.

Me on the other hand, who never ever have seen anything else of Tin Tin, i've always loved it, and regularly rewatch as an adult. I'm a total sucker for high-tech hideouts for criminal masterminds. Some tend to be crazy angry at the singing portion. I've listened to a multi-language comparison video about that, i gotta say yeah most of the languages didn't do it for me, especially the English is utterly basic, but the Hungarian dub just might be superior to even the original.

If you are a Tintin fan then do not watch this. The only artwork that does credit to Herges' method and style is any illustrations that they can take from existing Herge material - if I could bear to watch this trashy attempt again I'd go through and pick out where they used existing Herge illustrations without modification from the Herge albums. This is not based on a Herge album at all.

It is peppered with godawful sing-a-long songs and does not have the seriousness of a Herge plot ( being a rip off of a James Bond film ).

To give you an example of how this film is a mismatch, compare any character that there does not exist a Herge template for with the Herge characters:

1. The local children that "save" them at the start in an unrealistic fashion are drawn in a disney style, the dog is drawn in a hanna-barbera style and the gags are Tom and Jerry.

2. Captain Haddocks voice is that of Popeye the Sailor man. I keep expecting him to break out the spinach.

3. The character that cuts the telephone wires uses actual Muttley sniggering from Wacky Races.

4. Any non Herge character is drawn in harsh primary colours, did they pay him any respect in this film?

Other things that may annoy:

1. Tintin fails to call the police even though they nearly die in a plane crash at the start ( shades of Ottokars Sceptre ).

2. Calculus goes between not being able to hear clearly ( as his Herge character does ) to having precise hearing randomly throughout.

3. Herge prided himself on drawing realistic vehicles from the period and making as much "real" as possible, Rastapopolous's spider craft? Calculus's laboratory?

4. The jokes about Captain Haddock in Tintin revolve around his drinking, aggressiveness and comedy timing, apart from an incident with golf clubs on an elevator his character is out of character.

This is an appalling sin against Herges' characters, if you value Tintin beyond being a "boy's own" style of story then just give up now and watch infomercials instead. If you are new to Tintin, this is the worst place to get your introduction. Appalling, how some could give it a 10 is beyond me, save those for the French-Canadian TV series which did Herge some justice.

I defy anyone to watch the English dubbed version and not want to sing out "Im popeye the sailor man toot-toot" everytime Haddock opens his mouth.

Herge could draw, the animators obviously couldn't. Herge had his own style, the animators clearly wanted to work for Disney.

I agree with most posters, true fans will notice everything that is so wrong with this film. I was excited at having found this DVD as it is one of the only ones i haven't seen. seen and i am so disappointed.. i have it playing right now and it has failed to capture and keep my attention. Every time i do look up there is something awful.. the voices are all wrong, especially tin tin and haddock. there was one scene where tintin is wearing a tank top singlet) and he has all these muscles.. I don't know the whole image of him is just wrong. The series was so much better, i think i may just watch a few of those to compensate! I would not recommend this to anyone but maybe very young kids that may appreciate the bright colors. If this is your first introduction to tintin and it turns you off, don't despair, watch some of the series first to make up your mind. Herge was a legend and when i first saw 'greg' i thought it was a nickname for Herge, but as they have not paid any respect to Herge with this film it obviously didn't have anything to do with him.